Chapter 161 Arrival at the Huo Family
Huo Zhenhua gently placed a hand on Huo Tianyou's head and rubbed it. His gaze fell on Huo Tianyou's loose clothes and the straw rope binding his waistband. His expression turned cold. "Tianyou, where are your clothes?"
In the dim light, Huo Tianyou gripped his waistband, his dark eyes glancing fearfully at Huo Zhenhua, his voice barely audible, "It's wet, it belongs to someone else. But I brought all my clothes back."
He pointed to the bundle Ah Da was carrying, head bowed, "It accidentally fell into the water today, uh..."
He downplayed the seriousness of the matter, only reporting good news and not bad.
Su Meng: "He was chased and beaten by thugs and was even pushed into the pond."
Huo Zhenhua took off his coat and covered Tianyou with it, then took his hand and walked back together.
It turns out that Huo Tianyou is the child on his household registration.
"His father was Huo Dahe from the neighboring village, and he joined the army two years earlier than me. Later, during a mission, he sacrificed himself to save me."
His only worry was this child.
So I brought him to my home, and he's been living with my parents in our hometown ever since.
Huo Dahe was the male head of the household that adopted the younger brother.
Ah Da frowned. "Don't they have any adults in their family?"
He remembered that he had a wife and two children who were a little older than Tianyou.
Huo Zhenhua turned around in surprise and looked at her. "No. It is said that when they settled in Xiaoqiao Village, only Huo Dahe, this child, and an elderly man remained."
The old man passed away six months after Huo Dahe's sacrifice.
Their family is from out of town; they have no relatives or family members of their own.
It was Huo Zhenhua's family who helped with the burial of the elderly man.
“He is my younger brother.” Su Meng took two quick steps, took Tianyou’s other hand, and turned to look at Huo Zhenhua. “You should know that my family members are easy to recognize. The men have blue teardrop-shaped birthmarks on their shoulder blades.”
Huo Zhenhua paused, his questioning gaze sweeping over the group, then bit the flashlight and pulled open Tianyou's clothes with one hand.
Upon seeing the teardrop-shaped mark on her shoulder blade, she raised her voice slightly, "It really is! My mother has always taken care of Tianyou, so I didn't know."
If it weren't for the desire to meet Huo Tianyou, Huo Zhenhua would have gone to the county town that afternoon to prepare to return to the military region.
He looked at Su Meng with longing, and pleaded with A-Da with hope, "Uncle, Xiao Meng, we are destined to be family. Let's go! Let's go home."
Su Meng lowered her eyes, her mood suddenly becoming heavy.
She didn't expect to find her younger brother so easily.
Even more unexpectedly, the younger brother was the child on Huo Zhenhua's household registration.
She should go and thank the Huo family for raising her younger brother.
But... thinking about facing Huo Zhenhua's family, she hesitated.
My heart is pounding!
"Sister?" Tianyou noticed Su Meng slowing down and looked up, dangling the two of them by the arm they were holding in confusion.
Ah Da sensed her hesitation and understood, "As Tianyou's relatives, it is only right that we visit the family that raised him."
Su Meng nodded, "Mm!"
She secretly encouraged herself, knowing that she was going as Tianyou's older sister.
Instead of...
She glanced discreetly at the tall man beside her, avoiding his eager and delighted gaze.
From the moment Huo Zhenhua saw Su Meng, the smile on his lips never faded.
He was worried that Su Meng would misunderstand him and be attacked by some people's sweet talk, but he never expected that after a few days apart, the beauty would appear out of nowhere.
He said slowly, "Don't worry! My family lives alone in a courtyard house. My grandma and I live on one side of the mountain and the other at the bottom of the slope."
It's highly unlikely that they'll run into each other.
Xiaomeng, don't be nervous, my parents are very nice people.
There's also a younger brother who recently got married and a younger sister who's a boarding high school student. The family is small and easy to get along with.
Su Meng: "......"
What is he doing?
She's not here for a blind date, so she doesn't care about his family situation.
She awkwardly turned her head away. "I came here to look for my younger brother. Now that I've found him, I'll go back tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Tianyou hurriedly gripped Su Meng's finger and said, "Sister, can you stay one more day? I... I can go back to school early on Monday."
Su Meng felt a pang of sadness and tried to ask, "Tianyou, would you like to go back to the military region to study with your sister?"
The military region has a primary school, and the teaching conditions should be better than those in the surrounding towns.
Tianyou's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Huo Zhenhua.
He wanted to ask Huo Zhenhua for his opinion.
The Huo family treated him very well, and he couldn't leave them now that he had found them.
He came to the Huo family at the age of six and knew from the beginning that he was not a member of the Huo family, but was kindly adopted by them.
He couldn't bear to part with his aunt and uncle from the Huo family.
Seeing this, Su Meng probed Huo Zhenhua's intentions, "Commander Huo, since his household registration is with you, it should be more convenient for him to go back to the military region to study."
Besides, no thugs in our military region bully him.
Huo Zhenhua nodded without hesitation, "You're right. I've talked to my mom about this, and we'll bring Tianyou with us this time we go back."
Upon hearing this, Tianyou suddenly raised his lowered eyes, gently shook Su Meng's hand twice, and grinned at her, "Sister!"
He turned his head again and softly called out, "Big Brother."
"Uncle!" He hadn't forgotten Ah Da, and called out with a smile in his eyes.
After crossing the mountain, you'll see a small courtyard halfway up the mountain with a dim oil lamp lit up.
Hearing footsteps, Liu Wenxiu hurried out of the main room, scolding, "Is that Tianyou back? Why are you so late today? Were you frightened on the way?"
Tianyou ran up to Liu Wenxiu and stood in front of her, saying happily, "Auntie, my uncle and sister have come to see me. Look!"
Liu Wenxiu had met Ada before.
She thought to herself, "Isn't that the Su family's uncle?"
How could it be Tianyou's uncle?
Then, looking at Su Meng walking slowly behind him, his eyes lit up. This girl was beautiful, and upon closer inspection, she looked a bit like Tianyou.
They truly are siblings.
"Everyone, come inside!" Without asking any further questions, she turned and called into the house, "Second brother, come out quickly and start the fire to cook. We have guests!"
Regardless of whether they are Tianyou's relatives or not.
Those who came back with Huo Zhenhua were almost certainly guests of their family.
She happily tied the apron she had just taken off back on and was about to run to the kitchen.
Huo Zhenhua coughed lightly, "Mom! This is Uncle Su, this is my..."
Ah Da interrupted with a smile, clasping his hands in a respectful greeting, "This is my niece, you can just call her Xiao Su. Sister-in-law Huo, Tianyou really is our child, thank you for taking care of him all these years, thank you!"
Because of his interruption, Su Meng's heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, quietly calmed down.
The warmth emanating from the earrings quietly dissipated with the mountain breeze.
She quickened her pace, smiling sweetly, and said, "Hello, Auntie! Sorry to bother you."
As she spoke, she took out two packets of candy and two packets of pastries from her handbag and handed them over, saying, "I apologize for this abruptness, Auntie."
Liu Wenxiu glanced at Huo Zhenhua, who was smiling silently, and gladly accepted the gift. She then grabbed Su Meng's hand and said, "Come on! It's cold outside, let's go back inside."
"Uncle Su, please come inside and have a seat."
When she arrived at the military region, Su Meng was still working at the Zhou City Machinery Factory.
They had never met.
But from her son's clingy gaze and the Su family's status, she was basically certain that this was the girl her son had been longing for—Su Meng.
The girls in the city were so beautiful, with skin as white as snow, hair as black as ink, bright eyes and white teeth, like fairies descending to earth on the Double Seventh Festival who suddenly wandered into her little earthen house.
Liu Wenxiu was very perceptive. When A-Da made it clear that they had come to find Tianyou, she pretended to be confused and diligently arranged their food and lodging.
"Eldest brother, you entertain the guests. Second brother, kill this old hen, and your wife can help with the cooking."
She made arrangements in a flurry of activity, and didn't forget to call out to Tianyou, "Tianyou, are you hungry? Here's a roasted sweet potato, have some to tide you over."
Su Meng looked at Huo Zhenhua apologetically, "Tell your mother not to bother. My uncle and I ate in town."
Huo Zhenhua and A'da were talking about the scarred man, but Huo Zhenhua kept glancing at Su Meng out of the corner of his eye.
He rubbed his fingers together. "It's alright! She's just happy because she's busy. How could she not be hungry after walking for so long? I'll stay with you!"
Su Meng: "......"
She was just... embarrassed!
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